Amy Foscaldi stands in front of a board at a benefit for End 68 Hours of Hunger, where she volunteered earlier this month. Starting Saturday, Foscaldi is embarking on a new life in Costa Rica, where she recently found a job teaching English and science to young children.
Courtesy photo

KITTERY, Maine — Amy Foscaldi thought she knew what poverty was until she visited a Costa Rican town over the summer.

There, in the town of Nosara, outside the tourist destinations, the Kittery resident says locals struggle to find food and adequate shelter, never mind being able to afford school supplies and textbooks for students.

Foscaldi, 37, went to Costa Rica last summer to find a new job, and a new life for herself and her 13-year-old daughter, Aidia Sandlin. A single mother, Foscaldi has been struggling with poverty and joblessness for years, she told Foster’s during an interview on Monday.

Upon arrival in Costa Rica in July, Foscaldi, a former volunteer firefighter and certified art teacher, was astonished to find that more teaching opportunities awaited her there than in the New England area. While Foscaldi had three interviews for teaching in the past two years in the United States, she had two interviews for teaching in one week in Costa Rica, she said.

Foscaldi, who is still learning Spanish, was hired last summer at Homeschool Beach Academy Nosara, teaching English and science to young children.

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Courtesy photo
Aidia Sandlin, 13, helps sell her and her mother's possessions earlier this month, to raise money for school supplies for Homeschool Beach Academy Nosara, in Costa Rica. Aidia and her mother, Amy Foscaldi, are moving to Costa Rica on Saturday and hope to make schools there more adequate.

This Saturday, Foscaldi is returning to Costa Rica for a longer journey. She said she is not only seeking employment and a new life, but also to help the school provide adequate books and school supplies for the children.

“It’s very difficult to educate when you don’t have the right tools,” said Foscaldi, adding many schools in Costa Rica don’t even have soap.

In preparation for Saturday’s journey, Foscaldi and Aidia were selling personal belongings to raise money for new books for Homeschool Beach Academy Nosara. The fundraiser was held at the Lions Club flea market earlier this month.

Foscaldi is also donating boxes filled with her own books — on poetry, art, history, and science — which she had been collecting over the years. Because of her efforts, eight or nine boxes will be arriving at the school, filled with books, educational puzzles, magnetic letters, and some of her own art supplies.

But Foscaldi still needs some help delivering boxes of books to Costa Rica. She is asking that local residents send monetary donations, books, or school supplies to Homeschool Beach Academy, (100 meters east of Supervida) Arenales de Nosara, Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

“I got a lot of work ahead of me,” said Foscaldi, a Kittery resident of five years. “It feels good to help.”

Taking a daring journey to Costa Rica to start a new life required making a pros and cons list, said Foscaldi, and some serious consideration.

“I am frightened beyond belief. I am so scared,” said Foscaldi.

However, she noted that the difference she hopes to make at local schools, and the opportunity to make her life and her daughter’s better, are worth it.

“A lot of us, we let fear get in the way of success,” she said. “At this point, I have nothing to lose.”

Foscaldi said while she and Aidia plan to return to the United States for a visit in September, she currently has no plans so far to permanently move back to America. Aidia, she said, will begin attending the same school where Foscaldi is teaching, and while Homeschool Beach Academy is currently low on supplies, Foscaldi said she’s not worried about her education.

“Going to another country by itself is a huge learning opportunity,” said Foscaldi. “She’s going to learn a new language, a new culture, a new ecosystem. There will be learning opportunities around every corner.”